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A relative of mine has done this to his vehicles for as long as I have known him. These include Jaguars, F-150 trucks, and most recently, a ML Mercedes thing that oddly did not come with a sunroof. Never really had any issues with them. If anything, they seem to have been more durable than stock ones. Of course, you get what you pay for too. He spent decent money on them. I'm sure a cheap job wouldn't be as effective.
A relative of mine has done this to his vehicles for as long as I have known him. These include Jaguars, F-150 trucks, and most recently, a ML Mercedes thing that oddly did not come with a sunroof. Never really had any issues with them. If anything, they seem to have been more durable than stock ones. Of course, you get what you pay for too. He spent decent money on them. I'm sure a cheap job wouldn't be as effective.
Before I had a car with a sunroof, I really thought I would like and use a sun roof frequently, but when I finally got a car that had one, I did use it almost every day for the first couple weeks, but after that, I lost interest in it. The car I have now has a large sunroof and I think Ive had it open maybe 3 times in the 4 years Ive owned the car!
Im guess Im saying, just be sure you really want one and will use it before sinking money and time into one.
Before I had a car with a sunroof, I really thought I would like and use a sun roof frequently, but when I finally got a car that had one, I did use it almost every day for the first couple weeks, but after that, I lost interest in it. The car I have now has a large sunroof and I think Ive had it open maybe 3 times in the 4 years Ive owned the car!
Im guess Im saying, just be sure you really want one and will use it before sinking money and time into one.
This wouldn’t be my first sunroof. I very much prefer to have one. Thanks, though!
Just so I’m clear, do you say that any sunroof weakens the roof, or just that an after-market sunroof would especially weaken the roof?.
Depends on the vehicle and how the roof was constructed and if there are any supporting braces that pass across and if the sunroof cuts into them. A lot of the roofs structure is really in the perimeter and there really isn't a lot of support aross the middle. Usually it's just enough to keep the roof from collapsing if there is snow on top. I've seen many roofs damaged by someone walking on it, so there really isn't much significant support there....but again It depends.
My take on sunroofs is this. I prefer factor or nothing at all. I personally wouldn't get an aftermarket. The issue isn't when they are new, but after a few years. At that point the car has passed through a few different hands and the original installer has moved in. That's when they might start to fail, and parts tend to become difficult to find if the model is discontinued or the sunroof manufacturer/brand is obscure and unabl to be determined. Leaks develop as seals dry out due to lack of maintenance. OEM sunroofs are designed for that particular car while aftermarket sunroofs tend to be universal and may not be a perfect fit for each model.
IMHO it also reduces value of a car in terms of resale. Again, not usually an issue for the original owner who might trade it in and get wholesale, but in terms of private party sales, aftermarket sunroofs tend to be a negative.
I've worked on a lot of older cars that have had aftermarket sunroofs installed. 15-20 years down the road, I've seen rust issues and inability to find parts. I've also seen guys throw in the towel, cut off the roof of a hardtop car and graft that roof on in place of the one with the aftermarket sunroof.
But, if this is a new car and you plan on keeping it 5 years or so, you likely won't have any of these issues. I still personally am not a fan. As a rule, I pass on all cars with aftermarket sunroofs.
Even OEM sunroofs leak pretty often. No idea why you would go to the trouble of installing an aftermarket one and compromising the structural integrity of the car for a gimmick.
If you're really suffering due to lack of a dark tinted glass panel above your head that doesn't even let much light through, just try to think about something else
BTW I have a full glass roof no my Volkswagen Alltrack. It looks cool from the back seat, but in the front seat you can't see it at all. It just lets in a bit more light
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